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BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 


BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

BY 

CLIFTON JOHNSON 


Hop-o’-My-Thumb 

The Babes in the Wood 

The Brave Tin Soldier 

The Fox and the Little Red Hen 

Golden Hair and the Three Bears 

Cinderella 

Puss in Boots 

Jack and the Beanstalk 

Little Red Riding-Hood 

The Story of Chicken-Licken 


Additional books will be added 
to this series from time to time. 











pit 


|«ii 



The Giant’ s fall 

(Page 26 ) 










BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


JACK 

AND THE BEANSTALK 


CLIFTON JOHNSON 


ILLUSTRATED BY 

HARRY L. SMITH 


NEW YORK 

THE MACAULAY COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright, 1919, 

By THE MACAULAY COMPANY 


All Rights Reserved 


NOV 15)9(9 


Printed in the U. 8. A 


INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


The books in this series of Bedtime Won- 
: er Tales are made up of favorite stories 
from the folklore of all nations. Such 
stories are particularly enjoyed by children 
from four to twelve years of age. As here 
told they are free from the savagery, dis- 
tressing details, and excessive pathos which 
mar many of the tales in the form that they 
have come down to us from a barbaric past. 
But there has been no sacrifice of the sim- 
plicity and humor and sweetness that give 
them perennial charm. 

The sources of the stories in this volume 
are as follows: Page 11, England; 27, 
Siam ; 32, Denmark ; 37, Andersen ; 59, 
American Negro; 65, Spain; 83, Silesia; 88, 
Grimm; 100, American Indian; 115, Scot- 
land ; 124, Finland. 







CONTENTS 


I Jack and the Beanstalk .... 11 

II A Giant and His Wife 18 

III The Envious Neighbor ..... 27 

IV A Troll’s Letter 32 

V The Garden of Eden 37 

VI The Four Winds 41 

VII An Air Journey . 47 

VIII The Fairy Queen 52 

IX Mr. Wolf’s Daughter . . . . . 59 

X The Enchanted Mule 65 

XI A Day of Excitement 71 

XII A Mule no Longer 79 

XIII The Dwarf’s Turnips 83 

XIV A Kind Servant Lass 88 

XV The Swan Maiden 94 

XVI An Eagle Man ....... 100 

XVII The Magician’s Return 108 

XVIII The Rival Lovers 115 

XIX The Music of the Sea 124 


I 









f 



































* 










' /r 















ILLUSTRATIONS 


The Giant’s Fall Frontispiece ^ 

See text page 26 


In the Cavern op the Winds 38 

Peter the Mule Kneels Before the Cross . . 76 

Chanting for Rain 102 ‘ 





I 






JACK AND THE BEAN- 
STALK 

AND OTHER FOLKLORE STORIES 
I 

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 

Long, long ago there lived a poor widow who 
had a little boy named Jack. It was not 
easy for her to get a living, and she was quite 
dependent on a cow that she owned. The 
cow gave a great deal of milk, some of which 
the woman and the little boy drank, and 
some of which they sold. But at such times 
as the cow went dry they fared very badly. 

On one such occasion the woman said sor- 
rowfully, with tears in her eyes, “I don’t 
know what will become of us.” 

“ Cheer up, mother,” Jack said. “I will 
go and get work.” 


11 


12 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


“You are too small,” his mother told him. 
“No one would hire you. Ah, well ! I must 
take our cow to market and sell her.” 

So she tied a rope to the cow’s horns and 
led her away. But she had not gone far 
when she met a queer-looking old man, who 
stopped, and said, “Good-morning, madam.” 

“Good-morning to you,” was her re- 
sponse. 

“Where are you off to this morning?” 
the old man asked. 

“I am going to market to sell my cow,” 
the woman answered. 

“If that is the case,” the old man said, “I 
will save you the trouble of going any 
farther, for I will buy your cow right here.” 

“And how much will you give me for 
her?” the woman inquired. 

Then the old man took a little bag from 
his pocket and opened it for her to look in- 
side. But all she saw was a handful of 


JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 13 


beans. “I will give you these beans in ex- 
change for your cow/ 7 the old man told her. 

“I would rather not make such a bargain 
as that/’ the woman said. “ Those beans 
would not be enough for one meal.” 

“Oh, they are not for you to eat!” the old 
man exclaimed. “You must plant them. 
They are magic beans that will bring you 
good luck, and they are worth much more 
than your cow.” 

The woman looked again, and she saw that 
the beans were very curious and of many 
pretty colors. So at last she consented to 
take them and let the old man have the cow. 

But on her way home, the more she 
thought about what she hard done the more 
foolish she thought she had been. When she 
was back in her cottage kitchen she poured 
the beans out into her hand and threw them 
into the fire. 

“I can’t bear the sight of them,” she said; 


14 BEDTIME WONDER TABES 


“and now we shall soon starve, I suppose/ 9 

She thought all the beans were burned, 
but one of them had rolled out across the 
floor. The next day, as she was sweeping, she 
swept the little bean along without noticing 
it, and she might have swept it into the fire- 
place had not her little boy, Jack, seen it. 

He picked it up, and said, “I’m going to 
plant this bean, mother. 99 

So he took the bean out, dug a little hole 
near a corner of the cottage, dropped in the 
bean, and covered it with earth. The next 
morning he found that its first leaves had 
pushed their way up out of the ground. On 
the second morning it was as tall as he was. 
On the third morning it was as high as the 
house, and the morning after that it was as 
high as the church steeple. It kept growing 
so fast that its top was soon clear out of 
sight. 


JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 15 


Then Jack said, “Pm going to climb this 
beanstalk” ; and he climbed and climbed and 
climbed until at last he reached the sky. 

There he found a strange country without 
a tree, shrub, house, or living creature any- 
where in sight. He sat down on a stone to 
rest, and said, “Humph! if this is all there is 
up here I may as well go back home.” 

But while he was resting he saw a beauti- 
ful lady coming toward him along a path 
that led away over a hill. As soon as she 
arrived where Jack was she spoke to him, 
and he rose and took off his hat. 

“I am a fairy,” she said, “and I want to 
tell you something about your father. Do 
you remember him?” 

“No,” Jack answered, “and when I ask 
my mother about him she always begins to 
cry and will say nothing.” 

“I thought as much,” the fairy said, “and 


16 BEDTIME WONDER TABES 


you will understand why your mother never 
speaks of him when you hear my story. He 
was a brave and generous knight, and the 
fairies were his friends and made him many 
wonderful presents. But after a time a 
wicked giant came to your father’s castle 
and killed him, and carried off all the won- 
derful things the fairies had given him. 

“At the same time the giant carried off 
your mother and you, who were then a little 
baby. He shut you both up in one of his 
dungeons, but at last he offered to release 
you and your mother on condition that she 
should never speak about her wrongs to any 
one. She agreed, and he carried her to a 
place a great distance from where she had 
lived and been known before. There he left 
her with just money enough to rent a little 
cottage and buy a eow. 

“That giant lives in the country where 
you are now, and if you follow this path you 


JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 17 


will find his big castle over yonder hill. All 
that he has is rightfully yours, and perhaps 
you can contrive some way to regain pos- 
session of what he stole from your father.” 


II 


A GIANT AND HIS WIFE 

The fairy went on her way, and Jack, after 
thinking things over, concluded to have a 
look at the giant’s castle. He walked along 
the path and found the castle in a valley be- 
yond the hill. On the doorstep sat a giant 
woman. Night was at hand, and Jack went 
to the giantess and said very politely: 
4 4 Good-evening, ma’am. Would you be so 
kind as to give me some supper?” 

4 4 Is it supper you want?” the big woman 
said. 4 4 It’s supper you’ll be if you don’t 
move away from here. My husband is a 
giant, and he likes to eat little boys.” 

4 4 But I am very hungry,” Jack said, 4 4 and 
I’ve had no food at all this day since early 
morning.” 


18 


A GIANT AND HIS WIPE 19 


“Well, well, then I don’t wonder that 
yon are hungry!” the giantess responded. 
44 Come along to the kitchen, and I’ll see what 
I can find for you.” 

She took him into the kitchen and gave 
him a piece of cheese and a bowl of bread 
and milk. He had not quite finished eating 
when, tramp, tramp, tramp! he heard the 
steps of some one coming, and the whole 
castle trembled with the heavy footfalls. 

4 4 Gracious me!” the giant’s wife ex- 
claimed, 4 4 that’s my husband. Be quick, 
lad, and jump into the oven or he’ll catch 
you.” 

She bundled Jack into the oven just as 
the giant came in. The big fellow looked 
around the room and sniffed the air. 
44 Fe-fi-fo-fum, I smell fresh meat!” he said. 

4 4 Yes,” his wife responded, 4 4 today the 
crows brought a piece of raw flesh to the top 
of the house and dropped it on the roof.” 


20 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


“Ha!” the giant growled, “I thought it 
was something nearer and fresher than 
that.” But he sat down at the table, and 
Jack watched him through a crevice of the 
oven door, amazed to see what a quantity of 
food he ate. 

After he finished supper the giant’s wife 
cleared away the dishes and went off to bed. 
“I am getting a bit sleepy myself,” the giant 
said, “but I must have a look at my money. ” 

Then he opened a big chest and took out 
several bags of gold coins, and returned to 
the table. He sat down, emptied a bag, and 
began to count the coins. But before he fin- 
ished he nodded off into a nap, and was soon 
snoring with a noise like thunder. 

Jack then climbed out of the oven, and 
by getting on a chair beside the table he 
reached one of the bags of gold. With that 
in his hands he ran as fast as he could to 
the beanstalk. After pausing a few mo- 


A GIANT AND HIS WIPE 21 


merits to tie the bag of gold to his belt he 
called out, “Hump it and bump it, and down 
I go !” and in a little while he had descended 
to his mother’s garden. 

A light shone from the kitchen window, 
and his mother was waiting for him in great 
anxiety. When he came in she was over- 
joyed to have him safely back. 

They had money enough now, but Jack 
could not help thinking how many things 
the giant had that were rightfully theirs, 
and before long he again climbed the bean- 
stalk. This time he carried some food so that 
he did not have to beg of the giant’s wife. 
Near the great castle he hid behind a rock 
and watched until he saw T the giantess come 
out to the well with a pail. While she was 
busy filling the pail with water he ran into 
the kitchen and hid in a closet. 

Soon the woman brought in the water, and 
by and by, tramp, tramp! came the giant. 


22 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


He began to sniff the instant he entered the 
kitchen. “Fe-fi-fo-fum! I smell fresh 
meat,” he exclaimed. 

“Do you?” his wife said. “Supposing 
we look around then. If there’s anybody 
hiding here it’s likely to be in the oven.” 

So they went to the oven. But luckily 
Jack was not there. “Well, it’s empty,” 
the giant’s wife said, “and I thought it 
would be. I’m tired of hearing your fe-fi- 
fo-fum!” 

The giant wanted to do more looking, but 
his wife said : “ No, I won ’t have you muss- 
ing up the house. You would turn every- 
thing you could lay your hands on topsy- 
turvy in your searching. I know that from 
experience. So sit down and eat your sup- 
per.” 

That was what he did, and afterward he 
called out, “Wife, bring me the little 
speckled hen that lays the golden eggs.” 


A GIANT AND HIS WIFE 23 

She brought the hen and put it on the 
table, saying, “If you don’t need me any 
more, my dearie, I will go to the next room 
to finish some sewing I have there.” 

“No, I don’t need you,” the giant told her. 
“Go along.” 

Then he took the little hen and said, 
“Lay”; and the hen laid an egg of solid gold. 
The giant held the egg in his hand and 
looked at it for a while ; but pretty soon he 
fell asleep and snored so that the house 
shook. 

J ack crept out of the closet then, climbed 
on a chair by the table, grabbed the little 
speckled hen, and ran. That frightened the 
hen, and she gave a cackle which woke the 
giant. 

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, and J ack, 
who was now at the door, heard him calling, 
“Wife, wife, what have you done with my 
hen that lays the gold egg?” 


24 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


She came hurrying to the kitchen from 
the next room, and said, “Why do you ask, 
my dear?” 

But Jack kept running, and he got too far 
away to hear any more. In a short time 
he came to the beanstalk. “Hump it and 
bump it, and down I go!” he shouted, and 
soon he was at the foot of the beanstalk and 
went into the house to his mother. 

They took the best of care of the hen, and 
every day J ack told her to lay, and she laid 
a golden egg. After a time Jack went up 
the beanstalk again, and he kept going up 
ever}^ few days until he had carried off 
pretty much all the giant’s treasures. 
Finally, one night he tried to get the giant’s 
bed-quilt. The quilt was made of silk of 
many colors, and it was adorned with beauti- 
ful jewels, and all along the edge were little 
silver bells that went tinkle, tinkle when 
Jack began to pull it off the bed. 


A GIANT AND HIS WIFE 25 


The giant heard the bells, and he called 
out, “Who’s round my house this dark dis- 
mal night?” 

Jack kept perfectly still until the giant 
was snoring, and then he pulled the quilt off 
a little farther. The bells went tinkle, 
tinkle and the giant woke up. “Who’s 
round my house this dark dismal night?” 
he shouted. 

Jack stopped pulling and stayed as quiet 
as a mouse. But no sooner was the giant 
asleep again than Jack got the bed-quilt a lit- 
tle farther off, and he kept on pulling at in- 
tervals until at last he had it all. Then he 
ran away with it, and how the bells did 
jingle! The giant was roused from his 
sleep, and he jumped up and started in hot 
pursuit of the lad. 

Jack kept on at his best speed, and got to 
the beanstalk first. “Hump it and bump 
it, and down I go!” he shouted, and he was 


26 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


not long in getting to his mother’s garden. 

But the giant was climbing down the bean- 
stalk after him, and the beanstalk was shak- 
ing beneath the monster’s weight. Jack 
could hear the giant coming, and when he 
looked up he saw the big fellow’s legs just 
appearing through the clouds. So he hur- 
ried to the woodshed and got a hatchet and 
began to chop at the beanstalk. 

The giant felt the beanstalk quiver, and 
he stopped to look down to find out what was 
the matter. Just at that moment Jack gave 
a blow with his hatchet that brought the 
beanstalk, giant, and all tumbling to the 
earth. The fall killed the giant instantly. 
Jack and his mother were rich people after- 
ward to the end of their days. 


Ill 

THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 

There was once a poor man in a tropical 
country who dwelt for many weary years in 
a city, and then, because he suffered great 
privations and often went hungry, he de- 
cided to go elsewhere. So he left the city 
and traveled far out in the country to the 
edge of a wilderness. There he built a hut 
and dug up a piece of ground for a garden. 

He depended on this garden to furnish 
him a living, and he planted some corn and 
melon seeds, which soon sent green sprouts 
up to the light. The growing melon vines 
and corn received the best of care, and they 
throve luxuriantly. 

When the crops began to mature, the 

27 


28 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


monkeys of the adjacent wilderness observed 
the good things that were ripening in the 
garden, and they came daily to eat of them. 
The man thought of his past privations and 
sufferings, and he willingly shared the 
product of his labor with the monkeys. 
They wondered greatly what sort of person 
he was that permitted them to eat unmo- 
lested of his corn and melons. 

One day the man lay down in the garden 
and fell asleep. By and by he became aware 
of the arrival of a troop of monkeys, but he 
continued to lie there as if sound asleep. . 

When they saw him they drew near and 
cried out with one accord: “He is dead! 
Our good friend is dead! Lo, these many 
days we have eaten of the things growing in 
his garden. Therefore it is only just that 
we should bury him in as choice a place as 
we can find.” 

The man heard what they said, but he did 


THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 29 


not open his eyes or stir, for he was curious 
to find out what they would do. They lifted 
him and carried him till they came to a place 
where two ways met. 

Then one of the monkeys said, “Let us 
take him to the cave of silver.” 

Another said, “No, the cave of gold would 
be better.” 

“Go to the cave of gold,” the head monkey 
commanded. 

There they carried the man and left him. 
When he was alone, he arose, gathered all the 
gold he could carry, and returned to his 
home. The riches thus easily gained, en- 
abled him to build a fine house, and to live 
in great comfort. 

This sudden change in his condition 
aroused the curiosity of his neighbors. One 
of them said to him, “How did you, who 
came here so poor, gain all the wealth which 
you must possess to live as you do 1 ?” 


30 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


The man freely told all that had befallen 
him, and the neighbor said, ‘ ‘ What you have 
done I can do too.” 

Without further delay the neighbor 
hastened home, planted a piece of ground 
with corn and melons, and waited for the 
monkeys to feast there. Everything came 
to pass as he had hoped. When the corn and 
melons ripened, great numbers of monkeys 
came to eat them. 

One day the monkeys found the owner of 
the field lying in it, apparently dead. Their 
gratitude prompted them to give him a 
worthy burial, and they carried him to the 
place where the two roads met. Here they 
disputed as to whether they should place 
the man in the cave of silver or the cave of 
gold. 

Meanwhile the man was thinking, “As 
soon as I am alone in the cave I will begin 
gathering up the gold, and I will make a 


THE ENVIOUS NEIGHBOR 31 


basket of bamboo so I can carry home a 
muck larger amount than my neighbor 
brought away.” 

Presently the head monkey said, “Put 
him in the cave of silver.” 

That was such a disappointment to the 
man, he forgot he was supposed to be dead, 
and he exclaimed, “No, put me in the cave 
of gold!” 

At once the monkeys dropped him and 
fled in great fright; and the man, bruised 
and disappointed, crept sorrowfully home. 


IY 


A troll’s letter 

A troll once made his home on a hill near a 
village. Trolls are wicked little creatures 
who very much dislike churches and who 
never willingly live within sight or hearing 
of them. So when a church was built on the 
slope of the hill where the troll dwelt he was 
greatly disturbed. 

Every time he looked at the church his 
anger was roused, and he was so annoyed 
by the ringing of the bells in the steeple that 
he would stop his ears till the ringing ceased. 
The longer he stayed the worse he felt, and 
at last he moved away over a mountain where 
the church was hidden from view and the 
sound of the bells could not be heard. 


32 


A TROLL’S LETTER 


33 


There he lived in peace and quiet, but he 
had not forgotten the church, and he nursed 
a desire to be revenged for the discomfort 
he had suffered. At length he prepared a 
letter which he thought would gain for him 
the revenge he so keenly desired. 

Then he assumed the form of a laborer 
and went out on the highway seeking some 
one for a messenger. By and by a man 
came along who was going south in the di- 
rection whence the troll had come when he 
moved from his old home. 

The troll greeted him and asked, “Where 
do you live?” 

“I live in the village beyond the moun- 
tain,” the man replied. 

“Oh! do you?” the troll said. “And are 
you on your w^ay back?” 

“Yes,” the man answered. “I hope to 
get home by night.” 

“I have a letter I want to send there,” the 


34 BEDTIME WONDEB TALES 


troll said. ‘ ‘ W ould you be so kind as to take 
it for me?” 

“Of course I will take it,” the man re- 
sponded. “It will be no trouble at all.” 

Then the troll gave the letter to the man, 
who put it in his coat pocket. “I remember 
that the churchyard entrance is on the up- 
hill side of your village church,” the troll 
said. “Don’t take out the letter till you get 
there. Then throw it over the wall just be- 
yond the churchyard gate, and the person 
for whom it is intended will get it.” 

The troll now parted from the man, who 
trudged off over the mountain. He kept on 
till he reached home, and he never once 
thought of the letter. 

The next day he went to work in a meadow 
at the foot of the hill on which stood the 
church. While he was sitting on a bowlder 
at noon eating his lunch he chanced to re- 
member his promise to the troll. 


A TROLL’S LETTER 


35 


“I must take that letter to the church- 
yard/’ he said. “Who can it be intended 
for ? I suppose the address is on the outside. 
I am to throw it over the wall beyond the 
gate. What a strange way to deliver a let- 
ter!” 

He drew it out of his pocket and sat with 
it in his hand. Suddenly he felt a drop of 
water in his palm. He looked to see what 
it was, and to his surprise found a tiny 
stream coming from under the seal of the 
letter. 

The water ran faster and faster, and soon 
the letter burst open and a flood rushed 
forth. It was as much as the poor fellow 
could do to escape with his life; for the 
wicked troll had inclosed a whole lake in his 
letter. 

The troll had intended to destroy the 
church and the bells which had so annoyed 
him when he lived on the hill. But the water 


36 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

ran out in the meadow instead. It formed a 
little lake which is still there, and up the 
hill is the church whose bells, when they 
ring now, sound sweetly over the water of 
the troll’s lake. 


y 

THE GARDEN OF EDEN 

There was once a young prince whose grand- 
mother, when he was a very little boy just 
beginning to go to school, used to say to him : 
“If you could only go to the Garden of Eden 
you would find that every flower there tastes 
like the sweetest of cakes. Besides, the 
more of the flowers you ate, the more you 
would know. You would not have the 
trouble of learning your lessons at school 
in geography, history, arithmetic, and the 
rest.” 

The prince thought that such a way of get- 
ting his lessons would just suit him, but his 
grandmother was unable to give him any in- 
formation as to where this wonderful garden 

37 


38 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


was to be found. He looked in his books. 
They were many and beautiful, and told 
about all the countries and peoples in the 
world ; yet there was not in them a word of 
what he most wanted to know, which was 
where to find the Garden of Eden. 

His desire to see this garden continued 
even till he w r as a young man. When he was 
eighteen years old he went into the forest 
one day. To wander there was his chief 
delight. Evening approached, the clouds 
gathered, the rain poured down, and it was 
as dark as it is at night in the deepest well. 
The prince slipped in the w T et grass and 
stumbled over the stones. Everything was 
dripping with water and he had not a dry 
thread on him. 

His strength was almost gone when he 
saw, just ahead, a large lighted cavern. In 
the middle of the cavern burned a huge fire, 
over which a full-grown stag with branching 



In the Cavern of the Winds 
































































































» 












































































* 











THE GARDEN OF EDEN 39 


antlers was being roasted whole. An aged 
woman, but big and strong, hovered about 
the fire, throwing on it one piece of wood 
after another. 

“Come nearer and dry your clothes,’ ’ she 
said when she saw the prince. 

He thanked her and sat down by the fire, 
holding his hands out to the warmth. The 
cavern was very chilly. 6 6 There is a terrible 
draft here,” he said. 

“It will be still worse when my sons come 
home,” the woman told him. “You are in 
the Cavern of the Winds. The Four Winds 
are my sons.” 

“Where are they now?” the prince asked. 

“I can’t say,” the woman replied. 
“They do as they please and most likely are 
playing at football with the clouds. Yes, 
they are rough fellows, but I can control 
them. Do you see those four sacks hanging 
on the wall? Whenever this son or that 


40 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


does not behave to suit me, I make him get 
into a sack, and there he has to stay till I 
choose to let him out. Here comes one of 
them now.” 

It was the North Wind. He brought 
with him freezing coldness, flakes of snow 
floated in the air around him, hailstones 
bounded on the ground at his feet, and there 
were long icicles hanging from his beard. 
He was dressed in a jacket and trousers of 
bearskin, and a sealskin cap was on his head. 

“You look frost-bitten!” the prince said. 

“Frost-bitten!” the North Wind repeated, 
laughing. “Frost is my greatest delight/ 
But what spindle-shanked boy are you? 
How did you get into the Cavern of the 
Winds?” 

“He is my guest,” the old woman said, 
“and if you are not content with this ex- 
planation you shall go into a sack.” 


VI 


THE FOUR WINDS 

The North Wind turned away from the 
prince and began to tell his mother how he 
had spent the last month, for it was only 
once a month that he and his brothers visited 
their home. 

“I come from the Arctic Ocean/’ he said. 
“I have been with a Eussian whaleship to a 
desolate polar island. It was a glorious 
place, all snow and ice and barren rocks, 
and on the island was just one lonely shed 
built from a wreck and covered with the 
skins of whales. The fishing began, and 
then I remembered my part of the sport. I 
made the great iceberg mountains surround 
the ship. Oh, how the crew shouted ! but I 

41 


42 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


shouted still louder. They were obliged to 
throw their cargo into the sea, and I shook 
snowflakes over them and drove them south- 
ward. They will never go again to that is- 
land.’ ’ 

“You have told us enough,” the old wo- 
man said. “Here is your brother of the 
West.” 

The West Wind held in his hand a club 
of mahogany wood, and he wore a slouched 
hat and looked like a wild man. 

“Whence do you come?” his mother 
asked. 

“From the forest wastes,” he answered. 
“There I raised such a storm that the pri- 
meval trees crashed to the ground, broken 
to splinters. I have cut capers on the plains. 
I have ridden wild horses and shaken cocoa- 
nut trees. Ah, yes!” 

Now came the South Wind wearing a 
turban and a flowing mantle. “ It is wretch- 


THE FOUR WINDS 


43 


edly cold here,” he said, throwing more 
wood on the fire. “One can easily feel that 
the North Wind has arrived before me.” 

“Sit down on yonder stone,” the old wo- 
man ordered, “and tell me where you have 
been.” 

“In Africa, Mother,” he answered. 
“There I joined a party of Hottentots in a 
lion hunt. An ostrich ran races with me, 
but I am swifter than he. I came to the 
sands of a desert and met a caravan. The 
desert was so vast it seemed to have no end. 
The sun burnt from above, and the sand 
scorched from below. I danced about in the 
sand, which was fine and loose, and whirled 
it up in huge clouds. What a dance that 
was ! The caravan was buried and lies be- 
neath the sand on the wide lonely desert.” 

“You have done very badly,” the mother 
declared. “Into a sack with you!” And 
before he could say another word she seized 


44 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


him, doubled him up, and popped him into 
a sack. 

That was not to his liking, and he kicked 
so the sack was kept rolling about the 
ground. Then the mother sat down on it, 
and he was obliged to be still. 

“ These are desperately wild fellows,” the 
prince said. 

“Yes, truly,” she agreed, “but they are 
obliged to obey me. Here is the fourth.” 

This was the East Wind dressed like a 
Chinese. “Well,” the old woman said, “do 
you come from the Garden of Eden?” 

“I go there tomorrow,” the East Wind 
answered. ‘ ‘ It will be a hundred years then 
since my last visit. I have just come from 
China where I have been playing about a 
bell tower and making the bells clink, 
‘Tsing, tsang, tsu! ? ” 

“You are mischievous,” the old woman 
said. “I am glad you are going to the 


THE FOUR WINDS 


45 


Garden of Eden tomorrow. Your visits to 
it always make you gentler and more man- 
nerly.’ ’ 

She now rose and released the South Wind 
from the sack. “It is time we had some- 
thing to eat,” she said. 

The stag was lifted from the fire and they 
all gathered round it and ate heartily. The 
prince sat beside the East Wind, and they 
soon became friends. “I wish you would 
tell me where the Garden of Eden is situ- 
ated,” the prince said. 

“If you wish to go there,” the East Wind 
responded, “come with me tomorrow; but 
I must inform you that no human being has 
been to the Garden of Eden since the time 
of Adam and Eve. When they were driven 
out, the garden sank deep down into a cav- 
ern. It, however, retained its warm sun- 
shine and all its splendor. There it is now, 
just as beautiful as it ever was, and it is the 


16 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


dwelling-place of the Fairy Queen. Do you 
wish to go to it with me?” 

“ Nothing would please me better,” the 
prince affirmed. 

They finished eating and soon afterward 
they all lay down and went to sleep. 


VII 


AN AIR JOURNEY 

Early in the morning the prince awoke, and 
he was not a little astonished to find himself 
far up above the clouds. He was seated on 
the back of the East Wind, who kept tight 
hold of him, and they were so high that the 
scene below, with its forests and fields, rivers 
and lakes, appeared like a huge colored map. 

“Good morning,” the East Wind said. 
“You can just as well sleep longer.” 

“But I have slept enough,” the prince 
responded. “I am afraid it was uncivil for 
me to depart without taking leave of your 
mother and brothers.” 

“That can be excused,” the East Wind 
said, “for w 7 e started before you were 
awake.” 


47 


48 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


Now they flew faster than before — how 
fast was shown by the tops of the trees whose 
branches and leaves rustled as the Wind 
passed over. It was shown too by the seas 
and lakes; for, as the Wind swept on, the 
waves rose higher, and the large ships bowed 
low like swans in the water. The prince 
was so delighted with the sight of the ships 
bounding along over the white-capped waves 
that he clapped his hands; but the East 
Wind begged him to sit quiet lest he should 
fall. 

An eagle flew swiftly over the dark woods, 
yet not so swiftly as the East Wind. 

“Now you can see the Himalaya Moun- 
tains, ’ ’ the W ind said. 4 ‘ They are the high- 
est mountains in the world.” 

Then they turned more to the south and 
presently inhaled the fragrance of spices and 
flowers. Figs and pomegranates were grow- 
ing wild, and red and white grapes hung 


AN AIR JOURNEY 


49 


from the vines. Here the East Wind de- 
scended with the prince to the earth. They 
stretched themselves on the soft grass, and 
the flowers nodded to them as if they wished 
to say, “ Welcome, welcome !” 

“Are we in the Garden of Eden?” the 
Prince asked. 

“No, not yet,” the East Wind answered. 
“But we shall be there soon. Do you see 
yonder lofty cliff? In its front is an open- 
ing before which the vines hang like a green 
curtain. That is the entrance to the Garden 
of Eden. The sun is warm here, but as soon 
as we go into the cliff you will find the air as 
cold as ice, and will need to wrap your cloak 
about you.” 

They rose, went to the cliff, and passed 
behind the curtain of vines. Oh, how freez- 
ing it was in there! But the cold did not 
last long. In places the passage was so low 
that they were obliged to creep along on their 


50 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


hands and knees, and again it was high and 
broad. 

After a while the East Wind pointed to 
where the loveliest blue light was beaming 
to meet them. The rocks overhead became 
more and more like mists, and at last were 
like a white cloud in the moonlight. The air 
w r as as balmy and fresh as among the moun- 
tains, and as fragrant as among the roses of 
the valleys. 

Here flowed a river as clear as the air. 
Gold and silver fish swam in it, and purple 
eels which emitted blue sparks at every mo- 
tion were playing beneath the surface, and 
there were water-lilies which shone with all 
the colors of the rainbow. A bridge, cun- 
ningly and delicately carved, led over to the 
other shore. 

While the prince was being conducted by 
the East Wind across this bridge, the flow- 
ers and leaves began to sing the sweetest 


AN AIR JOURNEY 


51 


songs about Ms cMldhood in wavy mellow 
tones such as no human voice could imitate. 
He saw lions and tigers and other fierce 
beasts playing on the grass beneath the 
trees, perfectly tame and harmless, and he 
saw the shyest of the forest creatures ram- 
bling about wholly without fear. 


VIII 

THE FAIRY QUEEN 

The prince and his companion were met by 
the fairy queen. Her garments were as ra- 
diant as the sun, and her countenance was 
full of gentleness. She was young and 
beautiful, and she was attended by several 
charming maidens. 

After speaking for a time with the East 
Wind, she took the prince by the hand and 
led him into her palace. She showed him 
its splendors, and, last of all, they entered 
a high spacious hall in the midst of which 
stood a large tree loaded with golden apples 
that hung like oranges among the green 
leaves. This was the Tree of Knowledge. 

52 


53 


THE FAIRY QUEEN 

Now they went out and entered a boat, and 
no sooner had they pushed off from the shore 
than the boat stood still and the land began 
to move. All the countries in the world 
seemed to glide past. 

First came the snow-covered Alps with 
their clouds and dark fir forests and the 
herdsmen singing merrily in the valleys. 
Then came Australia with its strange trees, 
its strange animals, and its savages dancing 
to barbarous music. Next Egypt’s tower- 
ing pyramids, overthrown columns, and 
ruined temples moved past. The shore con- 
tinued in motion disclosing country after 
country, and in the final scene the aurora 
beamed over the icy mountains of the north. 

The prince was very happy. ‘ 6 May I stay 
here always?” he asked as they returned to 
land. 

“That depends on yourself,” the fairy an- 
swered. “If you refrain from doing what 


54 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

is forbidden, you need never go away. But 
examine yourself. If you are not strong 
enough, return with the East Wind who 
brought you. Here he comes to meet us. 
He is ready to fly back and will not return 
for a hundred years. 

“The time will pass in the garden as if it 
were only a hundred days, but that is a long 
time for temptation. Every evening, when 
I leave you, I must invite you to come with 
me. But beware of attending to my call. 
Do not follow, for every step will increase 
the temptation. 

“I shall go into the hall where the Tree of 
Knowledge stands, for I sleep under the 
tree’s drooping branches. If you come 
after me and so much as touch me, the 
Garden of Eden will be lost to you, and 
sorrow and care will be your inheritance.” 

“I will stay here,” the prince responded. 

“Then be strong,” the East Wind said, 


55 


THE FAIRY QUEEN 

“and we shall see each other again after a 
hundred years. Farewell ! ’ ’ 

The East Wind spread out his great wings, 
and the storks and pelicans, like a streaming 
ribbon, flew after him and kept him com- 
pany to the boundary of the gardens. 

“Now we will begin our dances,’ ’ the 
fairy announced. “When the sun is sink- 
ing I shall stop dancing and leave you. As 
I go I shall beckon and call to you. Thus I 
must do each evening for a hundred years. 
But do not heed me, and every day your 
strength will increase till at last you will not 
even think of following. This evening is 
the first time. I have warned you.” 

The fairy led the prince into a large hall 
around the borders of which was a double 
row of white transparent lilies, and the yel- 
low stamens in each flower formed a little 
golden harp that gave forth most delicious 
music. They danced, and the fairy’s maid- 


56 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


ens danced with them and sang how delight- 
ful life was, and that the Garden of Eden 
would flourish forever. 

By and by the sun went down, and the 
prince saw the farther end of the hall open. 
There stood the Tree of Knowledge shining 
with such splendor that his eyes were daz- 
zled. The fairy queen was leaving, but she 
turned and nodded to the prince, saying, 
“Come with me; come with me.” 

Instantly he forgot her warnings and 
hastened to follow her. The spicy fragrance 
around became stronger, and the harps 
sounded more sweetly than ever. When 
the fairy reached the tree she bent the 
boughs asunder and in another moment was 
concealed behind them. 

The prince paused. “I have not yet 
sinned,’’ he said. “Neither will I.” 

For some time he stood irresolute ; then he 
pushed aside the boughs and saw the fail y 


57 


THE FAIRY QUEEN 

lying asleep, beautiful as only the fairy 
queen of the Garden of Eden could be. But 
he noticed tears on her long eyelashes. 

“Are you weeping on my accounts” he 
whispered, bending over her. “Oh, weep 
not, loveliest of creatures!” and he kissed 
her softly on the forehead. 

At the same moment there was a clap of 
thunder louder and deeper than any he had 
ever heard before. The charming fairy, the 
wonderful palace, the beautiful garden were 
gone in a twinkling, and the prince lay for a 
long time as if dead. 

A cold rain was beating in his face, and 
a cutting wind was whistling around him 
when he regained his senses. “What have 
I done?” he sighed as he opened his eyes. 

He sat up and found that he was in the 
forest close to the Cavern of the Winds. 
The mother of the Winds sat by his side. 
She looked angry, and exclaimed: “The 


58 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


very first evening! Well, it is just as I ex- 
pected. If you were my son you should go 
forthwith into a sack.” 

Now there came from the forest depths a 
strong old man. Out of his shoulders grew 
large black wings, and he carried a scythe. 
He was Father Time. 

“You have lost the Garden of Eden,” he 
said, addressing the prince, “but perhaps 
not forever. You still have the chance to 
live a good life. If you do, I shall one day 
carry you back to the Garden, and there you 
can dwell always.” 


IX 


MR. WOLF’S DAUGHTER 

There was once a wolf who had a beautiful 
and clever daughter. She was the finest girl 
in the country, and all the men animals who 
did not already have partners came courting 
her. 

It made her proud to have so many to 
pick from, but she was a lively creature, and 
though she smiled on all of them she turned 
up her nose if a beau wanted to stop court- 
ing and go to keeping house. 

“No,” she would say, “I am not ready yet 
to settle down like my mother.” 

By and by her daddy got exasperated at 
the foolishness that was going on. He had 
been kept awake night after night by the 
giggling and chaffing of the young people. 

59 


60 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


They were sitting in his best armchairs and 
wearing them out when they ought to have 
been sleeping and getting strength to work 
and earn their living the next day. 

So one morning he said to his daughter: 
“You must choose the man you like best and 
start a home of your own. I’m not going to 
have you trotting around any more and 
fetching company here to eat our victuals 
and be waited on by your mother.” 

When he said that, the girl sniffed and 
pouted, but she knew she must do as he or- 
dered. So after a while she told him he 
might get ready whatever he was going to 
give her for a wedding present. 

“Who are you going to marry'?” he asked. 

She blushed and dropped her eyes. “I 
think young Mr. Fox is a mighty nice man,” 
she said. 

“Well,” the old wolf growled, “it’s true 
enough that he’s a sweet talker. He can’t 


MR. WOLF’S DAUGHTER 61 

be beat when it comes to courting the girls. 
But as far as brains are concerned he’s an 
idiot.” 

The wolf was not overmuch pleased. 
However, his daughter declared she would 
have Mr. Fox and no one else, and her 
mother urged Mr. Wolf to allow the girl to 
have her way. 

So at last he ceased opposing them, and 
let the family relatives and friends know 
that Mr. Fox would soon marry his daugh- 
ter. The wedding was to be a grand affair, 
and all hands went to work to get ready 
for it. 

In the midst of the preparations young 
Mr. Fox called at Mr. Wolf’s house and be- 
gan to brag about his wedding clothes. 

“I’ve been to the tailor,” he said, “and 
I’ve told him to make as fine a suit as he 
knows how. The clothes are to have pretty 
shining buttons on them. There’ll be two 


62 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


rows clown tlie front of the coat and some on 
the sleeves, and I told the tailor to put a 
button here — ” 

He started to reach around to the back of 
his coat, but at that moment a big flea gave 
him a terrible bite on his knee. He could 
not help clapping his hand to the spot. 

Fleas are very bad in the wolf houses, but 
the wolves do not like to have any one say so. 
They get angry if a visitor shows that he has 
been bitten. Mr. Fox knew how touchy they 
were on that subject, and when he grabbed 
for the flea he pretended he was just showing 
where a button was going to be. 

Then he went on to say, “And I told the 
tailor to put a button here — ” 

Again he was about to point around to the 
back of his coat when the flea nipped him in 
the ribs, and he made a clutch there without 
delay. 

He cleared his throat and tried once more 


MR. WOLF’S DAUGHTER 63 


to show where the button was to be. “I’m 
going to have a button here — ” he said, but 
the flea pinched him on the neck. 

No sooner had he slapped that place and 
resumed his story than he got a bite on the 
hip. The bites continued, and he kept put- 
ting the buttons here and there till he was 
wild with confusion and discomfort, and he 
had scratched almost everywhere. 

Finally the flea gave him a most savage 
bite on the nose just as he was telling where 
a button was going, and he could not help 
clawing the spot. 

Meantime old Mr. Wolf had been getting 
madder and madder right straight along, 
and when Mr. Fox said he was going to have 
a button on the end of his nose he could hold 
in his wrath no longer. 

“Hi!” he exclaimed, “I can prove now 
that I made no mistake while you were court- 
ing my daughter when I said you were an 


64 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

idiot. I haven’t been at all anxious to wel- 
come you into my family from the start. 
But I gave in to the girl and her mother. 

“The time has come for them to give in 
to me. I take my stand, and all the women- 
folks in the world can’t persuade me to have 
a son-in-law who wants to look as if toad- 
stools were growing all over him. Put a 
button on your nose if you want to, but you’re 
not going to carry a nose decorated like that 
into a house you share with my daughter.” 

Then he flung open the door and drove 
Mr. Fox out. Later Mr. Fox and his kins- 
folk and the neighbors tried to get him to 
relent, but he was so angry he would not 
listen to a word they said, nor even to the 
appeals of his wife and daughter. 

The next week he had the girl marry the 
leanest old timber wolf that ever drew breath, 
and since that time he has not had a thing 
to do with any fox whatever. 


X 

THE ENCHANTED MXJLE 

There was once a hostler named Peter, who 
was so poor that he had to go about in rags. 
One day an archbishop came riding on a 
richly caparisoned mule to the inn where the 
poor hostler worked. He was followed by 
several of his attendants on foot, and they 
helped him to dismount. 

Then the archbishop turned to the hostler, 
and said : “Feed and take care of my mule 
for the night. In the morning I shall re- 
sume my journey.’ ’ 

So Peter led the mule into the stable, 
where he removed its saddle and bridle, gave 
it the best stall, and fed it all the hay and 
oats it would eat. The next morning he fed 

65 


66 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

it again, curried it, and put on its gay trap- 
pings. 

“Ah!” he sighed, “look at the fine things 
this mule has on, while I wear rags ; and look 
at its well-filled sides. It lives a very com- 
fortable life, and always has the best of 
everything. My life, on the contrary, is full 
of hardship. I have only a hovel for a 
dwelling, and even were it a mansion I could 
find small pleasure in it, for when I am at 
home my wife is constantly scolding me. 
Would that I might change places with the 
archbishop ’s mule. ’ ’ 

He leaned against a manger and was 
laughing loud and long at this fancy of his 
when the mule looked around at him and be- 
gan to speak. 

“What ho!” it exclaimed; “you would 
change with me, would you? But you must 
remember that my reverend master is fat 
and heavy. A weary load I often find him. ’ ’ 


THE ENCHANTED MULE 67 

u And yet see the care you get,” the hostler 
said, “and the plentiful food you always 
have.” 

“Well,” the mule responded, “I would 
nevertheless like a little freedom, and I 
would sooner be you than myself. So, if 
you want to change places with me, just take 
hold of both my ears, and you shall be the 
archbishop ’s mule without any further trou- 
ble.” 

“That will suit me exactly,” the hostler 
declared. “Better to be a well-fed mule 
than a half-starved hostler with a scolding 
wife.” 

So saying, he seized the mule by the ears 
and was immediately transformed. “Now 
for once I will eat all I want,” he said. 
“Here, brother, give me some more hay and 
oats!” 

The former mule, however, was so rejoiced 
over being in human form and at his escape 


68 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


from all restraint that he paid no attention 
to Peter’s words, but at once left the stable 
and went for a stroll. 

Peter began to fear that in becoming a 
mule he had made a mistake. Then the 
thought occurred to him that if he was go- 
ing off on a long journey with the archbishop 
he ought to say good-by to his wife and his 
old mother. He started to go to them, but 
found he was tied, and though he pulled hard 
at his halter he could not get free. 

4 4 Wait till the archbishop comes for me,” 
he said, 4 4 and as soon as I am led out of the 
stable I will break away and run home.” 

At length the archbishop appeared and 
called for his mule. The hostler could not 
be found. So some of the archbishop’s at- 
tendants went into the stable and returned 
with Peter the mule. 

As they were tightening the saddle girths 
the creature bolted away. Down the road 


THE ENCHANTED MULE 69 


he went as fast as he could go in the direc- 
tion of his house, and the archbishop con- 
cluded that the mule had gone crazy. 

His servants gave chase, shouting : ‘ 1 Stop 
the beast! Stop it!” and the rabble joined 
in the pursuit. 

Peter never paused till he arrived at his 
house. His mother sat at the door spinning, 
and as she was very deaf she did not hear 
the commotion of his clattering hoofs and 
the yelling of the crowd. He came close to 
her unperceived and tried to take her hand. 
It was his intention to ask her to bless him 
before he went away with the archbishop. 
But he found that he could no longer speak 
the language of human beings, and his harsh 
braying and his attempts to grasp his 
mother’s hand greatly frightened the old 
woman. 

She sprang to her feet and hit him over 
the head with the distaff, at the same time 


70 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

crying out, “Get away from here, you hor- 
rid mule!” 

A moment later his wife appeared in the 
doorway and threw a basin of water over 
him. Now the crowd gathered round. 
Peter was seized, and the servants started to 
lead him back to the stable, but he would not 
go. He stood on his hind legs, and then he 
lay down and rolled in the dirt till the scarlet 
saddle-cloth was spoiled. 

At last he suddenly rose, rushed into the 
cottage, and tried to sit on his accustomed 
chair. His wife and mother fled to the 
street, but the crowd entered and so cudg- 
elled Peter that he was glad to submit and 
return to the inn. 


XI 


A DAY OF EXCITEMENT 

After Peter had been groomed he allowed 
the archbishop to mount him, and the day’s 
journey began. But they had not gone far 
when the archbishop exclaimed, “ Goodness! 
this mule has the pace of a camel.” 

True enough, Peter was not accustomed to 
four legs, and did not know how to use them. 
So he failed to move his front and rear legs 
in the proper unison. This caused the arch- 
bishop great inconvenience. He was very 
fat, and as the mule walked along he rolled 
about in the saddle like a ship in a heavy 
sea. 

At length, in fear of falling off, he seized 
the pommel with both hands and stood up 
in the stirrups. Just at that time he was 

71 


72 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


going through a village, and the inhabitants, 
who had come out to see him, thought he was 
about to deliver a sermon. They therefore 
surrounded Peter, who was thus compelled 
to stop, uncovered their heads and knelt to 
await the archbishop’s blessing. 

Thereupon Peter, who had some idea of 
the real trouble with the archbishop, gave 
way to such inward laughter that it brought 
on a violent fit of coughing. The faithful 
peasants had their heads devoutly bent to- 
ward the ground and, because they did not 
see the archbishop’s face, they supposed the 
coughing proceeded from him. It seemed 
to them to be the natural clearing of the 
throat before speaking. 

As for the archbishop, he was becoming 
seriously frightened and thought that some 
demon had entered the body of his mule. 
He gave a cry of alarm. Peter was sadly 
disconcerted. He did not know what else 


A DAY OP EXCITEMENT 73 


to do, and he sat down on his hind quarters. 

The result was that the archbishop slid 
off the mule and landed with his back on 
the ground. Peter, more alarmed than ever 
over what he had done, quickly rose. But 
this only made matters worse, for it com- 
pletely capsized the venerable archbishop, 
first standing him on his head, and then 
sending him rolling in the dust. 

Full of anger, the prelate scrambled to his 
feet and carefully examined his mule to see 
if he could account for its peculiar behavior. 
He was greatly mystified when he could dis- 
cover nothing that did not seem all right. 

Peter was sorely grieved at having caused 
his good master so much annoyance, and he 
now turned toward the archbishop and went 
down on his knees, thinking to show that he 
craved pardon. The villagers who were 
gathered around were so scared by the 
mule’s unusual action that they took shelter 


74 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

behind the archbishop. He, however, was 
as much afraid as the rest. If it had not 
been that they held him by his robes he would 
have run away. 

“See!” one of the people cried, “the mule 
repents what it has done and is asking to be 
pardoned. ’ ’ 

But the archbishop was not sure about 
that, and he backed slowly away from the 
strange-acting quadruped, at the same time 
pushing the crowd behind him to a safer 
distance. 

It seemed to Peter that there was no ad- 
vantage in kneeling any longer. So he got 
up and stood very quietly, hoping to restore 
his master’s confidence. In this he was suc- 
cessful, for the archbishop, after watching 
him some minutes, was persuaded that the 
mule had meant him no harm, and presently 
gained the courage to remount. 

Peter, who keenly regretted his errors,' 


A DAY OF EXCITEMENT 75 


thought he ought to help his master make up 
for the time he had lost, and he set off at a 
quick amble. The effect was to make the 
archbishop so unsteady in the saddle that he 
could only keep from falling off by gripping 
the pommel with one hand and the crupper 
with the other. In this posture he was hur- 
ried out of the village, and the people failed 
to get their expected blessing. 

The archbishop’s attendants tried to keep 
up with their master, but, as they were on 
foot, the long and rapid strides of Peter the 
mule soon left them far behind. Not till 
they were within sight of the city to which 
the archbishop journeyed did they overtake 
him, and then only because he had slowed 
his pace to a walk. 

The rider was much exhausted and out of 
breath, and he was so fearful that the mule 
might start off again that he had a servant 
walk on either side of his steed holding a 


76 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

rein, while he rested a hand on the shoulder 
of each man. 

As they approached the gate of the city 
a group of priests came forth to welcome 
them. The leader carried a large silver 
cross. At sight of the cross, Peter remem- 
bered his mother’s teachings, and when he 
drew near the sacred emblem he dropped on 
his knees, bowing his head to the ground. 

This he did so unexpectedly that his rider 
was nearly thrown out of the saddle. The 
archbishop’s hands had been on the shoul- 
ders of two of his servants, and in order to 
save himself from falling he made a wild 
grasp and caught them by the hair. They 
fancied in their fright that the evil one had 
seized them, and they struck out right and 
left, nearly stunning their master with the 
blows they rained on him. 

Peter was greatly angered to see the ven- 
erable archbishop treated in such a fashion. 


A DAY OF EXCITEMENT 77 


He determined to punish the two servants, 
and started to his feet with the archbishop 
clinging to his neck. The servants fled, and 
Peter pursued them, opening wide his mouth 
to bite and shake them. They sought refuge 
among the priests, who were hastening to 
get into a small chapel near by. 

When the door closed behind them, the 
priest bearing the silver cross said, “Our 
archbishop must have exchanged mules with 
Beelzebub, for surely no earthly animal 
would thus treat a prince of the church. ’ ’ 

“Aye,” one of the fugitive servants ar- 
gued, “and if the mule’s neck had been a 
foot longer he would have had me dangling 
in midair.” 

“I never supposed I could run so fast!” 
a very short stout priest exclaimed. 
“Faith ! I thought I could feel my legs grow 
under me.” 

1 ‘ But what has become of the archbishop ? ’ ’ 


78 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

another asked. “We must not leave him 
unhelped in his sorry plight.” 

Then they carefully opened the door a 
crack and peeped out. There in the highway 
they beheld the archbishop sitting on the 
ground where he had fallen off the mule. 
He was half-fainting with fright and had 
not the power to rise. 

Peter was dashing about amid a crowd 
of citizens, who, attracted by the noise, had 
come out from the town to see what was 
going on. Hither and thither galloped the 
mule full tilt, wreaking vengeance on all 
who came within his reach. After tearing 
the clothing of a half dozen or more and 
knocking down fully a score, he set off at 
his best speed along the road by which he 
had come, and he never stopped until he 
arrived at the inn where he had been a 
hostler. 


XII 


A MULE NO LONGER 

The master of the inn made haste to secure 
the mule, and was much disturbed for fear 
some mishap had befallen the archbishop. 
Night was at hand, or he would have dis- 
patched a servant immediately to investi- 
gate. 

When Peter was once again at the manger 
he had time to consider the mistake he had 
made in becoming a mule. 

“Ah! I would gladly undergo any pun- 
ishment if I could regain my former shape, ” 
he mused. 4 4 Many a time my wife has called 
me a donkey, and if she was right in so do- 
ing, I think I ought to have made a good 
mule, but it has been far otherwise.” 

79 


80 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


Just then he observed a hostler coming 
into the stable. It was the same one with 
whom he had changed places, and he thought 
the man looked very sorrowful. 

The moment the hostler saw the arch- 
bishop’s mule he went to it and said, “ Peter, 
how do you like being a mule ?” 

Then the power of speaking the human 
language returned to Peter, who replied: 
“As for liking it, I enjoyed carrying the 
archbishop as much as he enjoyed being car- 
ried. But I am not accustomed to this sort 
of life, and I wish I was quit of it.” 

“If that be the case,” the hostler said, 
“hold down your head and we will change 
back to our old selves. The truth is, I never 
could live in the same house with that wife 
of yours. By my faith! I would rather 
bear my master’s saddle till I drop in my 
tracks than listen to your wife’s tongue from 
morning till night for a single day.” 


A MULE NO LONGER 


81 


“But her ways are not so bad to one who 
is used to them,” Peter declared, “and I am 
willing — ” 

“Make haste!” the hostler interrupted. 
“I hear her knocking at the door. Down 
with your head!” and the hostler grasped 
the mule’s ears. 

In a twinkling they changed places, and 
Peter turned to meet his wife. She had 
some sharp things to say to him, but he an- 
swered her with such unexpected gentleness 
that her wrath was much softened. 

Indeed, with the remembrance always 
clear in his mind of what he had suffered as 
a mule, he was never afterward inclined to 
return sharp answers when his wife scolded ; 
and this made her far less apt to scold, so 
that their home life was greatly improved. 

On the morning after the arrival of the 
runaway mule, the master of the inn con- 
cluded to go himself to learn what had hap- 


82 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


pened to the archbishop. He found him un- 
willing ever again to ride the creature, and 
anxious to sell it for whatever the innkeeper 
would give. Accordingly the innkeeper 
bought it for a small sum, and Peter the 
hostler became its caretaker. 

Peter always treated the mule with great 
friendliness and sometimes spoke to it. In 
response to his words it would look at him 
with an intelligence that made him quite cer- 
tain it understood. But it never replied, 
which Peter thought was because it was en- 
tirely content to be what it was and wanted 
to attempt no more experimenting. 


XIII 


THE DWARF’S TURNIPS 

Once there was a dwarf named Rips who 
dwelt in the mountains, and who was a ma- 
gician able to change himself into any form 
he chose. But he could do this only when 
he left his native heights. While there he 
was always a dwarf. 

Round about the mountains was farming 
country with fruitful fields and thatched cot- 
tages. Sheep and cattle grazed on the ver- 
dant meadows, and you could often hear the 
sweet tones of a shepherd’s flute. 

The king of this region had a beautiful 
daughter whose name was Elsa. Rips saw 
her one day as she strolled about in company 
with her maidens, and he immediately fell 
in love with her. 


83 


84 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


Then he assumed the appearance of a pow- 
erful prince from the Far East, and went to 
her father’s court with lavish display and a 
magnificent retinue. He asked that Elsa 
might become his wife, and the king was not 
opposed to the match. But the princess 
positively refused her consent, for she was 
already betrothed to a neighboring prince. 

Rips, however, determined not to be 
balked. Through his magical power he had 
a palace built in a single night for her on 
one of the mountains. Then he transported 
her thither and said, “Here you shall remain 
until you consent to be my bride.” 

He was obliged to appear before her in his 
true form of a dwarf, but he tried to win her 
affection by doing all he could for her ex- 
cept allowing her to go away. Everything 
in and about the palace was delightful, and 
he made himself as agreeable as possible. 

That she might not feel lonely he fur- 


THE DWARF’S TURNIPS 85 


nished her with a wand and a basketful of 
turnips, and said: “Fair lady, you need 
only to touch a turnip with the wand to 
change it into any kind of person or animal 
you choose.” 

So she supplied herself with counterfeit 
companions and lived pleasantly enough for 
a long time. Yet always she eagerly sought 
some means of escape. 

Rips sowed a plot of ground to turnips so 
that she should not fail to have all she could 
possibly want for supplying herself with 
companions. When the turnips were three 
or four inches high Elsa asked him to count 
the number of plants. 

“I have finally decided to become your 
wife and want to know how many persons 
will be at the wedding, for I intend to give 
life to every turnip in the patch you sowed 
and have them present at the ceremony. 
But you must be accurate in your count. 


86 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


Any mistake would cause me to change my 
mind.” 

Rips, beside himself with joy, began his 
task. He skipped around among the grow- 
ing turnips as nimbly as a sparrow might 
that was picking up grains of wheat. 

Such was his zeal that he soon finished, 
but to be positively certain that he had made 
no mistake he counted again. To his an- 
noyance, he found that the two counts did 
not agree. 

This made it necessary for him to count a 
third time, but the amount that time did not 
agree with either of the other amounts. His 
faulty counting was not to be wondered at 
considering the crowded confusion of the 
plants. Besides, his thoughts were more oc- 
cupied with the fair Elsa than with his work. 

Again and again the simple-hearted dwarf 
counted the turnips, and while he was doing 
so Elsa changed one of the turnips into a 


THE DWARF’S TURNIPS 87 


magnificent steed. She mounted and fled 
over hill and dale until she reached her 
father’s palace in safety. A short time 
afterward she married the prince to whom 
she was betrothed. 

How long Rips continued at his task of 
turnip counting I do not know, but the peo- 
ple of the region have called him in mock- 
ery the Turnip Counter ever since the 
princess Elsa escaped from him. 


XIV 


A KIND SERVANT LASS 

One fine afternoon a rich farmer’s wife and 
her daughter went forth from the village 
where they lived to walk in the fields. Pres- 
ently, as they were rambling along a bypath 
in a little glen, they met a ragged man. He 
stopped, with his hat in his hands, and asked 
the way to the village. 

“If you want to know, find out for your- 
self,” the woman replied rudely. 

Then her daughter tossed her head scorn- 
fully, and said to the man, “We don’t care 
to talk to such shabby folks as you are.” 

Thereupon, the ragged man, who was an 
angel in disguise, turned away from the 
mother and daughter, saying, “May those 
88 


A KIND SERVANT LASS 89 


two discourteous people become as black as 
night and as ugly as owls.” 

No sooner had he spoken than they 
changed in accord with his words. 

The ragged man walked on, and after a 
while he met a servant lass who worked for 
the proud woman. She had finished her 
day’s task, and was going to the woods after 
flowers. But when the ragged man asked 
her how to get to the village, she turned back 
and went with him far enough to show him 
the way. 

At parting he gave her a blessing, and 
said, “Now choose three things, and they 
shall be given to you.” 

“Well,” the girl said, “I wish first to be 
beautiful.” 

As she spoke her skin became delicately 
pink and fair, and no one could have been 
prettier or more graceful. 

“ Next,” she said, “I would like to have a 


90 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

purse which would always have money in it, 
no matter how much I took out.” 

This request the angel granted also, but 
said, i ‘ Forget not what is best.” 

“For the third thing,” the maiden contin- 
ued, “I wish to be kind and good.” 

“That was wisely chosen, and you shall 
have your desire , 9 9 the angel told her. Then 
he disappeared. 

The servant lass went to the w r oods, gath- 
ered some flowers, and returned with them 
to the f armhouse where she worked. While 
she was arranging the flowers in a vase the 
proud woman came in with her daughter. 
When they saw how fair and beautiful the 
servant lass was in contrast to their own 
black ugly faces, evil thoughts entered their 
hearts, and they plotted to injure her. 

The girl had a brother named Reginald. 
They loved each other dearly, and she told 
him everything that had happened. Regi- 


A KIND SERVANT LASS 91 

nald was one of the coachmen at the king’s 
palace, which was in a city not far from 
the village where his sister lived. In his 
leisure he painted pictures, and he did this 
painting very cleverly. 

“I wish I could have you always with 
me , 9 ’ he told his sister. ‘ 6 But as that cannot 
be, I will paint your portrait and keep that 
to look at.” 

So he painted her portrait, and hung it in 
his room at the palace. Every day he used 
to stand before it and bless the angel for 
being so good to his sister. 

The king learned of this strange habit of 
his servant’s, and he ordered the portrait 
to be brought to him. When he saw the 
picture of the beautiful girl, he summoned 
Reginald, and asked, “Whom does this por- 
trait represent?” 

“It is a picture of my sister,” Reginald 
replied. 


92 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


“She shall be my bride,” the king de- 
clared. “I will have a cloth-of-gold dress 
and jeweled hood and other splendid gar- 
ments brought for her, while you get ready 
your coach and horses. Then you shall 
drive with the fine raiment to where she lives, 
and bring her back.” 

Reginald was soon on his way, and when 
he delivered the king’s message to his sister 
she was astonished and delighted. But she 
told the woman and daughter, in whose home 
she worked, of her good fortune, and they 
were jealous. 

The black girl took her mother aside, and 
complained bitterly. “No such luck is ever 
likely to befall me,” she grumbled. “Here 
is our servant lass about to become a queen. 
Why should she fare so much better than I 
do*?” 

‘ ‘ Be quiet , 9 ’ the mother said. ‘ 1 She seems 
to have the advantage of you now, but wait 


A KIND SERVANT LASS 93 


a little and I will contrive to have you 
change places with her.” 

Then the woman, who was something of a 
witch, caused a half blindness to come over 
the coachman’s eyes, and dulled the hearing 
of the servant girl’s ears. 

“My daughter and I will go to the palace 
with your sister,” she said to Reginald. 

So, as soon as the servant lass had put on 
the rich robes sent to her by the king, the 
three women got into the carriage. 


XV 


THE SWAN MAIDEN 

Reginald climbed up to his seat on the out- 
side of the coach, at the front, and started 
to drive to the palace. The day was clouded, 
a rude wind blew, and presently rain began 
to fall. Reginald thought the coach cur- 
tains had better be let down and he called 
to his sister, saying : 

“ ’Tis storming now, my sister dear; 

Shut out the wind that blows so drear, 

For should the rain against you beat 

You’d not be fit the king to greet.” 

“What does my brother say?” the servant 
lass asked. 

“Oh! he says you are to take off your fine 

94 


THE SWAN MAIDEN 95 

golden dress and jeweled hood and give them 
to my daughter,” the woman replied. 

So the girl took off the golden dress and 
jeweled hood, and the witch’s daughter put 
them on, and gave hers to the servant lass. 

By and by the coachman spoke again, 
saying: 

“ ’Tis storming still, my sister dear; 

Keep out the wind that blows so drear, 

For should the rain against you beat 

You’d not be fit the king to greet.” 

“What does my brother say this time?” 
the servant lass asked. 

“He tells you to look out of the window 
and see the palace in the distance,” the 
woman answered. 

They were passing over a narrow bridge, 
under which ran a deep river. When the 
girl looked out, the witch gave her a violent 
push, and she fell down into the stream. 


96 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


She sank, and a moment later there ap- 
peared at the spot a snow-white swan that 
swam away with the current. 

Reginald had observed nothing of what 
had happened, and he drove along to the pal- 
ace, where he presented the black girl to the 
king. 

“This is my sister, whose portrait you 
have seen,” he announced. And he really 
thought she was his sister, for his eyes were 
so dim he could see only the glitter of the 
jeweled hood and cloth-of-gold dress. 

The king was terribly enraged when he 
saw the ugliness of his proposed bride, and 
he ordered the coachman to be flung into a 
dungeon. Scarcely had this been done when 
the witch woman contrived by her arts to 
dull the king’s eyesight so that he no longer 
perceived the blackness and uncouthness of 
her daughter’s face. Preparations were at 
once begun for a grand wedding. 


THE SWAN MAIDEN 


97 


One evening a swan came swimming up a 
stream that flowed through the palace 
grounds. When near the royal kitchen it 
came forth from the water, passed through 
the open kitchen doorway, and said to the 
cookmaid : 

“Now make a brisker fire, I pray; 

For I would warm me, if I may.” 

The cookmaid put more wood on the fire, 
and the swan stood on the hearth and 
smoothed down its feathers with its bill. 
After it finished, it asked, “Where is my 
brother, Reginald?” 

The cook maid answered : 

“He’s in a dungeon underground 

With walls of granite all around.” 

Then the swan asked, “Where is my mis- 
tress, the black woman?” 

The cookmaid replied: 


98 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


“Oh! she is here right in this house, 

Up in her room still as a mouse/’ 

After that the swan went out to the stream 
and swam away. But the next night it came 
again and asked the same questions. When 
it had gone, the cookmaid felt that she ought 
not to keep this matter to herself any longer. 
So she went and told the king. 

The following evening he came to the 
kitchen to see if the swan would appear a 
third time. Sure enough, it presently ar- 
rived. But as soon as it saw the king it 
changed to a beautiful maiden. At the same 
moment his sight became clear, and he per- 
ceived that she was exactly like the portrait 
he had so much admired. 

The king was greatly rejoiced, and he or- 
dered royal garments to be brought. When 
she had arrayed herself in them, she told 
him how she had been betrayed by cunning 


THE SWAN MAIDEN 99 

and deceit, and how she had changed to a 
swan after being pushed into the river. 

“ And now,” she said in conclusion, “I 
beg you to release my brother without de- 
lay.” 

That was done. Then the king sent for 
the witch and her daughter. But they had 
fled, and they never again showed them- 
selves in his kingdom. 

Preparations for a wedding were already 
well under way at the palace, and soon the 
king married the beautiful servant lass ; and 
he placed her brother in a position of power 
and influence. 


XVI 


AN EAGLE MAN 

Once there was an old Indian chief named 
Polthe, who was a magician. His home was 
a cave in a Southern California canyon be- 
side a river. He spoke words of wisdom to 
the people of his tribe, he taught the young 
boys the sacred songs and dances, and every- 
body loved him. 

It was commonly believed that he could 
call spirits to his aid whenever he wished, 
and thai he understood the cries of all the 
birds and animals. 

* When the rains held back too long, Polthe 
and his sister Pilwan would go in the eve- 
ning to a great rock on the mountain-side 
near the village. There, far into the night, 
the Indians could hear them singing to the 
100 


AN EAGLE MAN 


101 


spirit of the clouds. Before morning the 
white mist from the sea would come stealing 
up the river canyon, and roll over the moun- 
tains. Then the raindrops would fall on 
the thirsty ground, and make all the grow- 
ing things fresh and green again. 

The hunters used to bring to Polthe ’s cave 
some of the game they killed so that he did 
not need to seek it for himself. But as time 
went on game in the vicinity became scarce, 
and the hunters often went far away to other 
valleys, and even then brought little home. 

The tribe might have suffered from hun- 
ger if Polthe had not begun going after 
game. Always he returned with more rab- 
bits than the best of the village hunters. 
This caused much wonder, but no man could 
learn his secret. Whenever the hunting 
party reached the place where they intended 
to hunt, Polthe would go away by himself 
and no one would see him again until the 


102 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


hunters met in the evening to start for home. 

Once Polthe ’s favorite grandson, Keleet, 
asked the old man if he might go with him 
to hunt. 

Polthe laid his hand on the youth’s shoul- 
der, and said: “We cannot hunt together. 
No man can ever hunt with me. If any one 
should follow and spy on me it would only 
bring sorrow to us all.” 

Keleet bowed his head and never spoke of 
the matter again, but some of his fellows 
were not so discreet. They were eager to 
find out how Polthe brought home so much 
food, that they might do the same and be 
great men in the village. 

One day, when the hunters had gone far 
from the village on a hunting trip, two of 
them, named Quilyep and Conolah, deter- 
mined to follow Polthe and learn his secret. 

“I am tired of our slow way of hunting,” 
Quilyep declared. 



Chanting for rain 


















































































AN EAGLE MAN 


103 


“So am I,” Conolah said. “We can 
rarely get more than three or four rabbits 
apiece in a day when we have to watch and 
wait and shoot with arrows. Polthe seldom 
gets less than ten.” 

They started away in the direction the old 
chief had taken down a valley. The lower 
part of the valley was level and open, but 
was bordered by hills, at the foot of which 
grew a fringe of brush. 

For more than a mile the two men walked 
along keeping in the shelter of the brush 
that they might not be seen. At length they 
came to the borders of a stream where it 
made a foaming plunge of more than a hun- 
dred feet over the rocks to the bottom of the 
wild canyon. Then it went on down the 
gorge around huge bowlders, and over 
smooth slippery ledges with intervening 
quiet pools. 

Along the borders of the stream here 


104 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


grew tall ferns, wild grapevines, and a few 
oak and sycamore trees. At tlie head of the 
canyon rose a high perpendicular cliff. 

The two men hid in a clump of sumac 
bushes that grew near the crest of the falls, 
and from there they could see the old chief 
on the loftiest pinnacle of the cliff. As they 
watched he raised both arms high above his 
head. Then his voice came to them faintly. 

‘ 6 He is singing, ’ ’ Quily ep whispered. ‘ ‘ If 
we would learn his secret we must go nearer 
that we may hear his words. Come.” 

They crept back through the bushes, and 
made a circuit to the side of the cliff away 
from the river. There it could be climbed, 
and they went higher and higher till they 
could hear and see Polthe plainly. They 
finally stopped in a thicket of wild lilac 
bushes. 

Polthe ? s bow and arrows lay on the 


AN EAGLE MAN 


105 


ground behind him. He would stretch his 
arms toward the sky, swaying his body from 
side to side, and singing in a high shrill 
voice : * ‘ Lift me up ! Lift meup!” 

Then his arms would drop to his sides, 
and he would sing in a lower tone : 4 ‘ Shake 
me off! Shake me off!” While he sang 
this his whole body would tremble as if with 
a hard chill. 

He repeated the two parts of the song 
again and again, and Quilyep and Conolah 
listened, crouched close to the ground, 
holding to each other for courage. At 
length they observed that though the sing- 
ing and swaying continued, Polthe had 
changed. 

His body did not have quite the usual 
shape, and it was covered with what looked 
like the soft downy feathers one sees on 
young birds. Then the downy feathers fell 


106 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


off and floated out over the canyon on the 
breeze, while other and larger feathers re- 
placed them. 

“ Fools that we are to be spying on a ma- 
gician while he talks with the spirits !” 
Quilyep groaned. “If he sees us he may 
strike us dead.” 

Conolah said nothing, but his teeth chat- 
tered with fear. 

The song grew fainter and slower and at 
last stopped. Then there stood on the rock 
only a great eagle smoothing his feathers. 

The two men started to retreat, but in 
their fear and confusion they stepped on a 
dry branch which broke with a noise of 
startling sharpness. The eagle turned his 
head and saw them with his piercing eyes. 

Immediately afterward they heard the 
eagle’s wings beating the air, and he uttered 
his wild scream. They looked back. The 
rocky ledge was deserted, but far down the 


AN EAGLE MAN 107 

canyon floated the great bird on wide-spread 
wings. 

“Now we know the secret of the many 
rabbits Polthe brought,’ ’ Quilyep said. 

“Yes,” Conolah responded, shaking his 
head sadly, “we know the secret, but little 
good will it do us.” 


XVII 


THE MAGICIAN’S RETURN 

They descended to the valley and sat by a 
spring until afternoon. Then they hunted 
for a time, and each killed one rabbit. At 
sunset they joined the other men of the 
party at the head of the valley, ready to start 
for the home village. 

All were there except Polthe, and they 
waited for him. As time passed, and it grew 
dark, Keleet became anxious, for his grand- 
father was an old man and had been hunt- 
ing alone all day. 

Quilyep and Conolah were very uneasy, 
and they showed it by their actions. Keleet 
noticed this, and he went to them and asked, 
“Do you know why my grandfather does not 
come?” 


108 


THE MAGICIAN’S RETURN 109 

The men hung their heads and made no 
reply. 

“Did you spy on him to learn the secret 
of his hunting?” Keleet questioned sternly, 
and all the other hunters gathered close 
around to hear the answer. 

The two men were reluctant to speak, but 
finally Conolah said in a low voice, “Yes, 
we followed him.” 

“Alas, alas!” the youth wailed, “ we shall 
never see my grandfather again.” 

One of the older men now requested that 
Conolah and Quilyep tell all they knew of the 
matter. The dark threatening faces that 
surrounded the two men made it evident that 
they must speak frankly, and they told the 
story of the eagle. 

When they finished all felt that it was 
useless to wait longer. Sadly and in silence 
they started on the trail toward home. 

It was late when the tired men came in 


110 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

sight of the twinkling fires of the village. 
The children were asleep, but the women 
were waiting for the hunters. When the 
hunting party came to where the women 
were, old Pilwan stepped forward. 

“Where is Polthe?” she asked, looking 
eagerly from one to another of the men. 

For a moment no one answered. Then 
Keleet took her wrinkled hands in his and 
told what had occurred. 

As he finished, the woman began to wail : 
“Come back to us, Polthe! Come back, 
come back!” 

They wailed and wept all night, but old 
Polthe did not come. The people mourned 
for many weeks. Often, when the gloom of 
evening was filling the valley, Pilwan would 
creep away to the great rock on the moun- 
tain-side near the village. There she would 
stay singing alone until morning. 


THE MAGICIAN’S RETURN 111 


“She is calling Polthe,” the Indians would 
whisper to each other as they listened. 

After one of these nights spent in singing 
on the rock, Pilwan came back early in the 
morning, and Polthe accompanied her. 
With cries of joy the people ran to meet 
them — all except Quilyep and Conolah. 
These two went away and hid in the brush. 

Keleet seemed more glad than any of the 
others. As Polthe looked at his shining face 
he smiled, grasped his hand and drew him to 
his side. Then he addressed those who had 
gathered around, saying: 

“My people, it is for your good that I 
have come back. You have no magician to 
lead you, and your eyes cannot see the way 
of wisdom. Therefore I will stay a little 
while to teach Keleet the many things he 
needs to know. When I go away he will be 
able to lead you, and you must accept his 


112 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


council, even as in the past you have ac- 
cepted mine.” 

Sorrow showed in all faces as Polthe 
spoke of going away, for they loved the old 
man well and were hoping he was to be with 
them as before. 

Polthe missed the two men who had spied 
on him and he asked where they were. 
When he was told that they had hidden for 
fear of his anger he sent Keleet to find them. 
The youth soon returned with the men, who 
were trembling with fright. 

“ Fear no more, ’ 9 Polthe said. “You have 
been punished enough.” 

When the men heard that they fell at the 
old man’s feet with cries of joy and thank- 
fulness, for they had fancied he might strike 
them dead for spying on him. 

Polthe stayed many days in the village, 
and Keleet was always with him. Every eve- 
ning the old man and Pilwan would go to 


THE MAGICIAN’S RETURN 113 


the great rock where they sang to the spirits, 
and the young chief, Keleet, went with them. 
After a few evenings had passed, the Indians 
heard three voices instead of two, and they 
knew Keleet was learning. He and his com- 
panions would sing for several hours and 
then return to the village. 

But one time they stayed on the rock all 
night The people heard their voices, and 
not until the first faint light of day appeared 
in the east was there silence. 

The villagers gathered in front of Polthe ’s 
cave, expecting every moment to see the 
singers coming toward them. Then, in the 
stillness, one voice began singing alone. It 
was the voice of Polthe, and his song was 
different from what any of them except 
Quilyep and Conolah had ever heard before. 

The two hunters recognized the eagle song 
and knew that Polthe was about to depart. 
They fell on their faces with a cry of fear, 


114 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


and there was anxiety and sadness in the 
hearts of all. 

At length the song grew fainter and 
slower, and finally it stopped. Then, just 
as the sun rose above the mountain-top, they 
heard the scream of an eagle, and saw the 
great bird flying slowly upward in the clear 
air. 

Now every one understood, and a long 
wailing cry arose as they stretched their 
arms toward the eagle, rising higher and 
higher above their heads. Pilwan and 
Keleet came down from the spirit rock and 
stood with the others, stretching their arms 
upward and crying, “Come back, Polthe; 
come back!” 

From far aloft above the mountain the 
eagle screamed three times, as if in answer, 
but Polthe never came back. 


XVIII 


THE RIVAL LOVERS 

Tom and Willie were two young fisher- 
mates who lived on the wild west coast of 
Scotland. They worked together very 
peaceably until both fell in love with the 
same maiden. After that things did not go 
so smoothly. 

It so happened, one October afternoon 
when they were out in their boat, that a sud- 
den storm assailed them. The wind blew so 
hard that they were compelled to run for 
the nearest shelter, which was a haven in the 
islet of Linga. 

The men considered themselves fortunate 
when they reached this haven safely, even 
though the islet was uninhabited and in spite 
of their having with them neither food nor 

115 


116 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


means of kindling a fire. There was, how- 
ever, on the island a hut occasionally used 
by fishermen in summer. So the castaways 
at least had a roof over their heads. 

For two days the storm raged without 
ceasing, and the situation of the men began 
to be serious. Willie awoke early on the 
morning of the third day and discovered that 
the weather had faired and that the wind 
blew in a favoring direction for getting back. 
He noiselessly left the hut without rousing 
Tom and hastened to where the boat lay 
hauled up on the shore. 

“This is a chance I’m never likely to have 
again,” he muttered. “If Tom goes back 
with me hell win the girl we both love. If 
I go alone and he does not return, I’ll win 
her.” 

By dint of great exertion he launched the 
boat unaided. Then he hoisted the sail and 
sped away before the breeze toward home. 


117 


THE RIVAL LOVERS 

In due time he arrived there and told a 
tragic tale to account for the absence of his 
comrade. 

The story was believed by every one ex- 
cept the fair Osla, whom he at once began to 
court anew. She turned a deaf ear to all 
his entreaties, for she did not love him, and 
she felt that Tom, in whose welfare she felt 
a tender interest, had been the victim of foul 
play. 

Willie would have had small chance of 
success had it not been that Osla’s father re- 
garded him with favor, and made light of 
her objections. The father urged her tc ac- 
cept him, and at last she acquiesced, and an 
early date was fixed for the wedding. 

The poor girl was in great distress. One 
night, after she had cried herself to sleep, 
she dreamed that she saw Tom alive on the 
islet of Linga. Such an impression did the 
dream make on her that she went next morn- 


118 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


ing to the house of Tom’s parents and begged 
them to start a search for their missing son. 

They were reluctant to do this, notwith- 
standing their love for him. “What pos- 
sible good could we accomplish?” they said. 
“Even if he escaped death in the sea and 
found a refuge on that barren islet of Linga 
he must have perished long before now from 
exposure and starvation.” 

But the girl persisted in her entreaties and 
finally prevailed. A boat was manned and 
steered toward Linga. When it approached 
its destination, sure enough, the islet was in- 
habited as Osla had predicted. For there 
was Tom watching in hope of rescue. 

He met his friends on the beach, and as 
soon as the first eager greetings were over 
they asked him how it happened that he 
looked so fresh and robust after spending 
months on a rocky islet where they supposed 
food was entirely lacking. 


THE RIVAL LOVERS 


119 


Then he told his story. On the day that 
Willie deserted him he awoke to find himself 
alone in the hut. Presently he went outside 
and down to the shore where he and Willie 
had drawn up their boat. To his dismay, 
the boat was gone, and when he looked 
seaward he saw it far off toward the horizon. 
He watched it till it was gone from view, and 
then he sat down on the rocks and gave way 
to despair. 

Plainly his comrade had basely and heart- 
lessly deserted him. It was not likely that 
the islet would be visited until the spring 
fishing season came round again. Nor did 
he see any chance that his friends would 
search for him, with no clue as to where he 
was among the many wild islands scattered 
along the coast, even if they thought he 
might have escaped drowning. 

The day passed slowly, and his thoughts 
were full of dismal forebodings. At night- 


120 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 

fall he betook himself to his shakedown of 
straw in the hut. 

When he and Willie found themselves 
stormbound on the islet, he had taken from 
the boat a loaded fowling-piece with the 
hope that he might shoot some sea-bird that 
would serve them for food. He still had 
the loaded gun, and he put it down beside 
him, saying, “I will get up in the morning 
as soon as there is light enough to see, and 
try to get a breakfast with my gun. If I 
fail, hunger will shortly make me too weak 
to stir.” 

Darkness closed in, and he slept. But 
about midnight he was suddenly awakened. 
Great was his astonishment to find that the 
hut was aglow with a strange illumination, 
whilst there smote on his ears a queer in- 
human hum of voices accompanied by the 
patter of many pairs of little feet, and the 
jingle of gold and silver dishes. A fairy 


THE RIVAL LOVERS 


121 


banquet was being prepared in the hut. 

Tom cautiously raised himself on his el- 
bow and watched the proceedings. With 
infinite bustle and clatter the fairies finished 
setting the table, and then a party of trolls 
entered carrying a chair in which sat the 
fairy queen. All bowed down and gave her 
honor. . 

The company seated themselves around 
the table, and the banquet was about to be- 
gin when, in a moment, the scene of festivity 
was changed to one of wild alarm and con- 
fusion. The presence of a human being had 
been detected, and at a word from the queen 
the fairies swarmed together and prepared 
to rush on the intruder and destroy him. 

But when they began to run forward he 
picked up his fowling-piece, raised it to his 
shoulder, and fired. Instantly the light 
was extinguished, and all was darkness, si- 
lence, and solitude. 


122 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


Morning came, and not a fairy was to be 
seen. But there was their untasted ban- 
quet on the table. The food was very wel- 
come to famishing Tom. It was bountiful 
in quantity and delicious in quality. Never 
before in his life had he fared so delicately. 

There was food enough to last for a long 
time, and he was relieved of any fear of im- 
minent starvation. As the days passed he 
spent some of his too abundant leisure in 
packing up the gold and silver dishes, and 
when the rescue party arrived at the islet 
he was soon ready to go back with them. 

His return home was the occasion of great 
rejoicings among all who knew him; and it 
is hardly necessary to add that Tom and 
Osla were soon made man and wife. They 
lived happily and prosperously for the rest 
of their days. 

But things went wrong with Willie. He 
lost his health, and he lost his property, and 


THE RIVAL LOVERS 


123 


there were no regrets among his neighbors 
when he moved away and was seen in that 
region no more. 


XIX 


THE MUSIC OF THE SEA 

Long, long ago, there came to earth an old 
man whose name was Vanemine. His hair 
and heard were white, yet his heart was al- 
ways young. He loved music more than 
anything else. The old man’s voice was soft 
and low, and he was the sweetest singer that 
ever lived. 

Vanemine could hear music in the flowers, 
in the stars, and in the trees. He could hear 
it in everything on the earth and in the sky. 

One day he said to himself: “I am very 
sorry for the people who cannot hear all the 
beautiful music that I hear. I will make a 
harp and they can listen while I play on it 
some of the wonderful music that is in the 
world.” 


124 


THE MUSIC OF THE SEA 125 


He made the body of the harp from the 
wood of the fir tree, he made the screws from 
the teeth of a big pike that he caught below 
a waterfall, and he used hairs from the mane 
of a horse to make the strings. 

When he finished the harp he drew his 
fingers lightly over the strings and brought 
forth tones that were clear, strong, and beau- 
tiful. 

Winter was just coming to an end, and he 
wandered through the bare and silent forest 
playing as he walked. As he went along, 
life was awakened where before there had 
been stillness as of death. 

The trees bent down their branches to 
listen, and began to bud and blossom. The 
birds drew near and followed him that they 
might hear the sweet music. When his feet 
touched the earth, the flowers pushed up 
from the soil and lifted their heads shyly to 
catch the delicious harmony. 


126 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


The gray wolves came from their hiding- 
places in the marshes and sat on the hills 
near where Yanemine passed. The bears 
left their homes in the hollow trees and clam- 
bered over the rocks and pushed through the 
brush in their eagerness to get close to the 
wonderful music. 

So tenderly charming were the harmonies 
that when men heard them anger ceased and 
their thoughts were thoughts of peace. 
There were no quarrels nor cross words 
where even the faintest echo of the music 
went. The hardest hearts were softened. 
There was not a living thing that could re- 
sist the witchery of Yanemine ’s music. 

All this happened whenever he touched his 
harp strings and sang his beautiful songs. 
One morning his wanderings brought him to 
the shore of the great ocean. There he sat 
down on a rock close to the water’s edge and 
played gently on his wonderful harp. 


THE MUSIC OF THE SEA 127 

But by and by be laid aside the harp and 
began to sing. He sang as be bad never 
sang before. He sang of the glory of the 
heavens and the beauty of the earth, of flow- 
ing streams and rustling leaves, and of the 
joys and sorrows that come to all people, rich 
and poor alike. 

As he sang the golden Sun paused in his 
course to listen, and the great waves of the 
sea ceased to heave. All the fishes, big and 
little, swam toward the shore and lifted their 
heads above the surface of the water that 
they might hear better. 

Suddenly Yanemine was caught up by the 
four winds, who, with their powerful wings, 
carried him to the palace of the sky, there 
to live and sing forever. 

The sea nymphs found his harp on the yel- 
low sands at the water’s edge, and they took 
it to their king in his shell palace at the bot- 
tom of the ocean. Ever since then they have 


128 BEDTIME WONDER TALES 


played on it there night and day, never tiring 
of its sweet tones. 

The harp of Yanemine is still heard in the 
low murmuring music of the sea. 












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